Hydraulic fracturing can increase the productivity of an oil or gas well by splitting open rock with water, fine sand and lubricants pumped underground at high pressure.

Written by

Deborah Barfield Berry
Gannett Washington Bureau

Republican lawmakers are questioning the Obama administration's request for $38 million to continue research on hydraulic fracturing.

"Before Congress redirects tens of millions of dollars for this research effort, the administration must tell us what it wants to spend this money on," Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, chairwoman of the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Energy, said Friday during a hearing.

Lawmakers also used the hearing to blast federal officials for missing a January deadline to submit a multiyear draft plan for researching hydraulic ...